Southeast Review Poetry Contest

Winner of the longest of my poem titles, On the Sidewalk by the Hospital I Find a Torn Corner of a Book Called 'The Problem of Pain' from the Chapter 'Human Wickedness', Page 59 & 60, was also the winner of Southeast Review's poetry contest, judged by Julianna Baggott, and published in vol 28.1. In addition to this poem, she selected A Brief History of Razor and Shaving as a finalist in the same contest.

contest winner

On the Sidewalk by the Hospital I Find a Torn Corner of a Book Called The Problem of Pain from the Chapter Human Wickedness, Page 59 & 60

In front of the liquor store, a woman’s dressedas a chocolate Easter egg. The foil-covered kindwith a cartoon chick hatching on her back.Her fat body hidden by the round costume, balancedon skinny legs in white stockings. Bunny earson top of her head—such confusion. When I told youyour fish was dead, I was sad, too. An hour later,it was swimming around. Resurrection,‘tis the season. We’re deceived by the outsideand sometimes, the cellular level. A womanleans against the bricks by the ER door,the tears, the cigarette, the cell phone—Still no word, they’re doing more tests. It’s hardnot to write about spring. The fiber twigsin my cereal taste bland after eating a trayof lemon squares and so much candy—I have tolose weight. I have to take the first step outof this fool’s paradise and utter illusion—meaning,chocolate will make you less lonely is a lie.Why did you say you would call when you didn’t?How much a piece with all the rest? The sun is warmis to say, I forgot to put on sunscreen, is to say, perhapsI want to get burned. It takes me a weekto recover from cigarette smoke blown in my face.I’m sick from the inside out. There’s not enough waterwhen water equals alcohol. Only a scrap of what is—I’m not ready for the egg to be cracked, to be crackedlike a shell. I’m a woman and should be thinkingof these things. Ma’am, said the man,holding the door for me. Shut up, I said, I’m notthat old. In the same day, a manin the hardware store told me, you look goodenough to eat. Walking home, I watched a cateat a baby rabbit. As is the time, the rabbitsare multiplying. There are bunnies the sizeof cell phones. They are getting bigger. Call me.

contest finalist

A Brief History of Razors and Shaving

The king of hearts does not have a mustache.He’s the only king in the deck who ownsa razor. The simplest solution:correct. Shave in the direction of growth.Replace the old cut-throat. Peter the Greattaxed any man with a beard. Sun. to Sat.,somehow, vanity entered the picture.Make good use of sharpened flint: primitivemetal working against flesh. Pushing safety-tab pulls spring-loaded blade for removal—pat. pending, physical evidence required.In the barber’s hands (pliers, steel), skillfulat bloodletting, teeth pulling. Surgeons andnature operate with max. precision.

Nature operates with max. precisionusing Occam’s razor, shaves off rulersand the transformation of clocks. Desireis time mixed with memory—invention,from fire. With burning twigs, cave men singedtheir whiskers, quarter-inch stubble the bestone could expect without electricity,AA-batteries. Gillette’s family homeburned in Chicago’s famous flames; he turnedto sales. A design from the carpenter’s plane,guarding the blade with wood, now the progressof plastics guarantees protection againstnicks and cuts. Emperor Hadrian grewa beard to cover his poor complexion.

A beard to cover his poor complexion,a man tried and convicted for wearinga false mustache to church—in Alabama,this happened. In Kentucky, everyoneis required to take a bath once a year.If done right, one can drown in 5 inchesof water. Wet area to be shaved,produce lather. Rinse. Repeat. The razorfound in Tut’s tomb was sharp enough to shavedark shadows. On his mind—suicide:the simpler, the better. His blade sharpand sharper still across a leather strop.Begin at the beginning—what is known:The king of hearts does not have a mustache.